Robin Kemp’s literary braindump

Old Poems, Old Articles, New Inspiration

I didn’t realize that I was sonnet-obsessed twelve years ago. Supporting evidence: in the first-semester packet from Warren Wilson. I did a LOT of work that semester–and not nearly as much as I’d hoped to. On the other hand, I also was working full-time as a writer for CNN. (Let’s see. Breaking news in Fall 1995?. . .)

The poems I found as part of this file were some I’d wondered about, but which I had apparently done quite a lot of substantive work on and then abandoned. At the time, I didn’t have the skills, but had plenty to say. Now, when I have the skills but feel I have so little to say, what a great Christmas gift to find my old work-in-progress. I can do a lot with this stuff. I might even actually finish my first book without exhausting whatever I come up with for my dissertation. Oh, joy! Oh, thank you, personal organizer who makes me clean out my office! Oh, thank you, Muses! Oh, thank me, person who refuses to throw away writing for years on end!

Another self-explanatory goldmine I found was a file labeled “Best Clips.” This also puts me squarely back in the freelance business. (I see lots of document scanning over the break.) I have a magazine article, possibly series, that I need to nail down. I miss writing for magazines. One thing I’ve promised myself as a reward for all the doctoral suffering is a regular magazine gig–the first nanosecond it becomes practical. Blogging is a temporary (and, thus far, unremunerative) substitute for the pleasant pace of print journalism.